Scared to death of lane splitting

The other day, I was cruising in free-flow traffic on Interstate 215 in Menifee and a motorcycle blew past -- and through -- the line of cars at 100 mph.

And that's no exaggeration. The biker might have been going faster.

Of course, as we all know, or should know, lane splitting is perfectly legal in California, even if it is not elsewhere in the country.

The maneuver seems to be handled relatively safely, most of the time, during rush hour. Commuting riders work their way through traffic slowly and methodically, straddling lane lines as cars and trucks on either side lurch forward a few feet at a time.

But there are other times when traffic is rolling along and riders roar by as if the lead car doing 80 mph in the fast lane is standing still.

It's something Janel Scott of Oceanside says she sees all the time.

“They scare me half to death when they do that,” Scott said in a recent telephone conversation. “It’s one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever seen on the highway.”

The woman who came to California from Illinois four years ago, and who used to ride motorcycles regularly in the Chicago area, said the practice of some to split lanes at high speeds really bothers her.

“I’m scared to change lanes because I don’t want to hit a motorcycle coming out of nowhere,” Scott said.

Riders who insist on splitting lanes whenever they feel like it, at whatever speed the traffic is flowing, won't get the green light from the spokesman for a regional motorcycle group.

Blake Anderson, chairman of the Southern California Motorcycling Association, told me recently he recommends bikers limit lane splitting to times when traffic is doing no more than 30 to 35 mph.

Anderson said riders should avoid traveling more than 10 mph faster than the surrounding traffic.

"That's the most," he said. "Anything more than that is just nuts."

Anderson said lane splitting gets a bad rap because the privilege is abused by some.

"When motorcyclists ride obnoxiously, they are not winning any friends," he said. "We have our own responsibility for how others see us."

Anderson argues that lane splitting is actually a good thing, when handled carefully.

The practice obviously saves two-wheel commuters time. And he said it promotes safety.

During the stop-and-go of heavy commute traffic, he said, "It's much safer to lane split. Motorcycles get rear-ended all the time."

For all the heartburn lane splitting causes, Anderson said it is generally more accepted by the motoring public than it was in the past.